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Dear Colleague: As you may know, the American Historical Association recently launched two initiatives that were, frankly, overdue: a Committee on Graduate Education (CGE), studying the current state and possible futures of graduate training for all varieties of historical work, and a Task Force on Public History (TFPH), working to expand the AHA’s activities in support of public historians. On behalf of both groups, I want to ask you to take some time to complete the attached survey on graduate training and career preparation for public history. We know that many recipients of advanced degrees in history over the last two decades have not pursued traditional academic careers. We also know that public history is a vital, expanding field. How are these two facts related? Can (or should) there be a better fit between graduate programs and public history? What (if any) distinctive training does a public historian need? What are historical agencies looking for when they hire a professional historian? These are some of the questions you can help us address by responding to the survey. Last year the AHA conducted an exhaustive review of doctorate-granting history departments in the United States, and we are now starting a similar review of master’s degree programs. The present survey, which is being sent to several hundred public and private agencies that are likely to hire professional historians, is designed to complement those efforts. We expect the questionnaire will be completed by staff members with direct responsibility for hiring and/or supervising employees whose work is broadly related to history. If you have colleagues at your agency (or another institution) who fit this criterion, please share the survey with them. We also recognize that gathering some of the data requested in section 3 may require more time than you are able to devote to the task; surveys with approximate data or that do not answer every single question are nonetheless welcome. We want to gather the views and advice of as many public historians as possible. Please return the questionnaire by SEPTEMBER 20, 2002. All responses will be considered strictly confidential. They will help the CGE shape its upcoming reports on graduate education and guide the TFPH in its future steps to promote public history. Most important, your responses will help all of us at the AHA better address the particular needs of our profession. Send your completed questionnaire directly to the CGE’s research director, Philip Katz, whose address is listed at the end of the survey. Any questions about the survey should also be directed to him. Thank you in advance, Arnita Jones Executive Director AHA Survey of Public History Employers (2002) Sponsored by the Committee on Graduate Education and the Task Force on Public History 1. Contact information: A. Agency/Institution: B. Respondent’s name: C. Title: D. E-mail address: E. Phone: F. Do you have hiring responsibility for new historians at your agency/institution? __Yes __No If No, who does? G. Do you directly supervise historians at your agency/institution? __Yes __No H. May we contact you to follow up on your response? __Yes __No 2. Tell us about your own background: A. What is the highest level of formal coursework in history that you have pursued? (Check just one) ___high school ___undergraduate courses ___undergraduate major ___master’s degree program ___doctoral program ___other (please specify): B. Briefly list your academic degree(s). We are especially interested in knowing the field(s) in which you received your degree(s), though we would also appreciate knowing the school(s) and date(s) of the degree(s). C. How well did your own graduate training (if applicable) prepare you for the historical work that you are now doing? 3. Questions about graduate education and public history: A1. About how many employees at your agency/institution are directly engaged in some kind of historical work (i.e., as a regular part of their employment)? _______permanent staff _______consultants/contract employees A2. Of these, about how many were hired in the last three years? _______permanent staff _______consultants/contract employees A3. In this same period, has there been ___an increase, ___ a decrease, or ___ about the same number of permanent staff members engaged in historical work? (___ Don’t know) A4. In this same period, has there been ___an increase, ___ a decrease, or ___ about the same number of consultants/contract employees engaged in historical work? (___ Don’t know) B1. What sort of graduate education is required (or preferred) for professional
employees within your agency/institution? B2. Have these requirements changed within the past decade? (___Yes, ___No, ___Don’t know) If yes, how and why did they change?
C2. What technical skills do you require (or prefer) these employees to have?
Are there general abilities or skills that you require (or prefer) all employees
to have, beyond the specific competencies required for a specific position? D1. What do you perceive to be the most serious gaps (if any) in the graduate training of new public history employees that you have hired/supervised within the past decade? D2. What do you wish they knew when they came to work for you that they didn’t know at the time? D3. Based on your recent hiring/supervising experience, how good a job are graduate programs in history and related fields doing to train students for public history positions? Would you draw a distinction between graduates of public history programs and traditional history programs? Between history programs and graduate programs in other disciplines? Between master’s and Ph.D. graduates? D4. Can you recommend any history departments – or programs in related disciplines –that are doing an especially good job of training people for the variety of available careers in public history? E1. What should traditional graduate programs in history – and the students they are now training – know about “public history”? E2. Are there specific skills that public historians should be expected to learn in graduate school (i.e., skills that are particularly relevant to nonacademic work settings)? E3. Are there general skills that all historians should be expected to learn in graduate school, regardless of their intended career path? F. Do you have any ongoing relationship(s) with local or regional history departments, or with graduate programs in related disciplines? (___Yes, ___No, ___Don’t know) If so, list the department(s) by institution and discipline: What kind(s) of relationship(s) do you maintain with them? (Check all that apply) ___joint programming ___internships for local graduate students at your agency/institution ___staff members from your agency/institution serving as adjunct faculty in local history department(s) ___faculty from the history department(s) serve as visiting scholars at your agency/institution ___graduate seminars sometimes meet at your agency/institution ___your staff is routinely included on the mailing list of the local history department(s) ___the local history department(s) are routinely included on your mailing list ___your staff members engage in continuing professional education at the local history department ___your staff members are regularly invited to talk with graduate students about careers in public history ___partnership(s) for service learning ___other (please list): G. If a young person came to you today and asked your advice about pursuing a career in public history, what would you tell her or him? H. How can public historians and graduate programs in history work more closely together? (Alternatively, can you offer examples of how they work together now?) I. From your perspective as a public historian, what are the greatest challenges facing graduate education in history today, and in the next few years to come? J. What do you think the AHA – alone or in conjunction with other historical associations – can do to improve graduate training for public history? 4. Comments: We welcome your additional comments about graduate training, career preparation, and public history. Unless you give us explicit permission to use your name, the Task Force on Public History and the Committee on Graduate Education will keep these comments confidential. Your comments will only be read by members of these groups, and while we may want to publicly quote them later, we will withhold all identifying details. 5. Send Us Additional Information About Your Agency/Institution: Please forward any descriptive information that you would like to share about your agency/institution. We are especially eager for details about your links to graduate history programs, professional development opportunities, internship programs, etc. Materials can be sent to us via e-mail, U.S. mail, or as a link to the appropriate page on a website. Thank you! Please respond by SEPTEMBER 20, 2002, to: Philip M. Katz Research Director, AHA Committee on Graduate Education |